Sorry guys, but in my experience most modelers can't tune their way out of a wet paper bag. Their idea of tuning is tweek tweek tweek the high speed needle to get every last RPM out of the engine, only to have the engine quit two minutes into the flight.

A lot of engines get unfairly labeled as "bad" because their owners are incapable of operating them properly. I like it because I get some pretty sweet deals on "bad" engines that simply need a little TLC at the carburetor. It's not the person's fault; they're just not interested in learning. There are engines for these kinds of people: OS. However, don't buy ground chuck then complain because it's not prime rib.

Don't get me wrong. There are BAD engines out there, but most of 'em aren't. If MDS, GMS, etc. were all bad right out of the box, how could the company stay in business? There aren't that many new people coming into the hobby, and word about a particular brand of engine being bad would get around eventually.

When you see a disproportionate number of complaints about a particular brand of engine here, you have to take it with a grain of salt. People with bad experiences tend to complain loudly, while people with good experiences are usually quietly content.